advert
1 Americanverb (used without object)
-
adverts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
adverted,
past participle, past
-
adverting
present participle
-
to remark or comment; refer (usually followed byto ).
He adverted briefly to the news of the day.
- Synonyms:
- allude
-
to turn the attention (usually followed byto ).
The committee adverted to the business at hand.
noun
-
adverts
plural
noun
verb
Usage
What does advert mean? Advert is short for advertisement. It is primarily used in the U. K. in the same way that American speakers use the word ad. Advert is also a verb that means to call attention to or reference something. This is easy to remember since the purpose of advertisements is to get your attention. Example: There are way too many adverts on this page.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
advertsimple
-
advertssimple
-
have advertedperfect
-
has advertedperfect
-
am advertingprogressive
-
are advertingprogressive
-
is advertingprogressive
-
have been advertingperfect progressive
-
has been advertingperfect progressive
Past
-
advertedsimple
-
had advertedperfect
-
was advertingprogressive
-
were advertingprogressive
-
had been advertingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of advert1
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English a(d)verten, from Old French a(d)vertir (with ad- replacing a- a- 5 ), from Latin advertere “to pay attention,” literally, “to turn toward,” from ad- ad- + vertere “to turn”
Origin of advert2
By shortening
Explanation
This one's easy. An advert is an advertisement: just shorten advertisement, and you get advert. As a verb, to advert to something means to refer to it. The noun advert (AD-vert) shows up mostly in England, where people use it interchangeably with advertisement, as in "Did you see that advert in the paper? If you buy two pairs of socks, you get a third pair free!" The verb advert (ad-VERT), on the other hand, means to "make reference to," like the way your mom might advert to your messy room and unfinished chores when you complain that you're bored.
Vocabulary lists containing advert
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Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
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Marbury v. Madison (1803)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Earlier this week, PGA Tour chief executive Brian Rolapp said the circuit was dismayed by the advert, describing Good Good's initial handling of the controversy as "disappointing."
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
Good Good Golf, which centers its business around a successful YouTube channel aimed at bringing a younger audience to the sport, had already apologized for the controversial advert.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
Another person, Hayley Vaughan bought a horse called Bonnie for £1,400 from Hopkins for her 16-year-old daughter Amber after seeing an advert on Facebook in 2019.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
In a plea deal, the original charge was reduced to disorderly conduct and possessing criminal tools - thought to refer to the phone used to reply to the advert.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
It wasn’t exactly like the magazine advert we’d found on the ground that day, but then it wasn’t so far off either.
From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
The agency advertised the events as taking place in Saint Petersburg's Gazprom Arena, with the stadium itself sharing adverts for the upcoming concert on its Telegram account.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
The company has previously got into hot water with the UK advertising watchdog, which has banned some of its adverts for making "misleading" claims.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Danish pharmaceuticals heavyweight Novo Nordisk said Tuesday it is suing its arch US rival, Eli Lilly, over "false and materially misleading" adverts for their competing weight-loss and anti-diabetes treatments.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
"The World Cup this year feels very American, I'm watching coverage in the US and you've got so many adverts, they barely do any analysis," she says.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
We'd miss the adverts and Coming Soons, but a lady with a torch'd show us our seats for the film.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
On his person he bore the marks of these perils of the laboratory; but they were little heeded by him, and, when adverted to, always afforded him the occasion of some good-humoured pleasantry.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 17, 2015
I'm not certain how disaster can be adverted when an inferior service will cost more money.
From Economist ● Dec. 14, 2013
It was strange she never once adverted either to her mother’s illness, or her brother’s death, or the present gloomy state of the family prospects.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
Taxes paid in the price of a commodity little adverted to, 379, 380.
From An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Germain Garnier
I have already adverted to this novel mode of creating species at pl.
From Zoological Illustrations, Volume III or Original Figures and Descriptions of New, Rare, or Interesting Animals by William Swainson
The decline in ratings has put pressure on adverting dollars as well.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the consortium, welcomed the delay on adverting rules as "one less distraction" for companies looking to focus on keeping prices down.
From BBC ● May 14, 2022
The human element in this example could have played multiple factors in adverting the breach or at the very least discovered it a lot sooner.
From Forbes ● Jan. 5, 2015
Much of this tracking is for adverting purposes: to collect data on you to show you more relevant ads.
From Slate ● Sep. 26, 2013
"It doesn't work at all," said Eliphalet, adverting to his paragraph, and anticipating Sim's complaint.
From Quodlibet by John Pendleton Kennedy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
